New Sensation with Rob Caballero, Willamette University MBA

Since ELGL is not a big fan of icebreakers and since we would rather not know what animal you want to be, this blog feature will serve as a means of introducing new members. While you won’t learn about their favorite animal, you will learn about their ideal Sunday morning, which dead people would they FaceTime with, and which song best describes their life.

2014 MBA candidate at the Willamette University Atkinson Graduate School of Management looking to develop knowledge in the fields of accounting, finance, & operations while also gaining consulting experience. Proficient with Microsoft Excel, Minitab, & SPSS from undergraduate and graduate econometric/statistic course work.

Q&A with Rob

Tell us about three projects that you are working on.

From a course titled Practical Applications of Career Enterprises, I participated in a consulting project with a specific focus on the board governance of a farm cooperative in the Willamette Valley. This farm cooperative, OMG, produces meadowfoam, which is a raw material for most products containing cosmetic oil. Because of this niche market, OMG created Natural Plant Products to act as the liaison between meadowfoam agriculture and business marketing. The relationship between these two entities remains unclear from their current single board structure.

My project group, New Heights Consulting, analyzed OMG and their subsidiary, Natural Plant Products, to provide recommendations about board efficiency and sustainability. Recommendations were provided regarding the structure of the board, the skill composition of the board, and the recruitment & compensation of board members serving both OMG and Natural Plant Products.

After multiple meetings with executive board members, farmers and non-farmers, New Heights Consulting developed a dual-board model for both entities. The OMG board would conduct board meetings that evaluate agriculture, availability of materials, and farming regulations affecting meadow foam. Their payouts would also be discussed.

Currently OMG/NPP does not compensate any board members for their services and their current bylaws restrict the participation of external directors on the OMG/NPP board. These bylaws must first be amended to track changes.

Salesforce.com: the purpose of this case study is to conduct an informal due diligence on Salesforce.com to verify if their high stock price is actually valid and not over-priced. They currently record their sales commission expenses as assets until the contract gained from the sale is recognized. This progressive technique may seem backwards (including an expense as an asset) but currently FASB is undergoing amendments for revenue recognition that look to capitalize expenses in a similar way.

Contracts ratably recognized over terms of the period deflate revenues for that year when compared to the associated expenses incurred to gain the revenue producing contract. Traditionally most subscription based software companies immediately recognize these expenses when they are incurred in the income statement. This creates a much smaller bottom line since, on any given financial statement, expenses are going to much more numerous and higher than total revenue recognized from contracts, especially if the contract is longer than one year.

By identifying critical performance ratios and using traditional accounting methods to predict the stock price of Salesforce.com it will become apparent whether this metric reflects the true value of the company.

ZONED: New Heights consulting also conferred with the executive team of Zoned LLC to create a business plan for their new venture. Zoned LLC is an up and coming supplement company that creates products to combat mental and physical fatigue. The main product, self-titled Zoned, serves as an alternative to coffee or other energy/focus enhancing substances meant for accomplishing tasks more productively. The provide single servings at a much lower price then their direct and indirect competitors like coffee, energy drinks, and prescriptions. Zoned also offers other products like dietary supplements for women and pre-workout formulas for men.

Outlined in the business plan was a 5-year revenue forecast as well as the sales units required to break even. Also described in the deliverable were the multiple channels Zoned will be distributed through. Places like vitamin shops and college campuses, which serve as congregation grounds for customers need that extra energy and focus to perform anaerobic exercises or an extended study session.

(Complete the sentence) Before I die I want to…buy my mother a house; preferably somewhere sunny and close to me.

Describe the inside of your car:

It is a bit of a water bottle and protein shake graveyard.

Best tip for improving a resume.

Know what the employer is looking for in their “perfect employee” then edit your resume accordingly.

Most recent concert:

Tyler, the Creator at the Roseland Theater in Portland

If you could only visit five websites for the next year, which ones would you choose?

ESPN

Linkedin

Twitter

FOX/ABC News

Hiphopearly

Proudest career/school accomplishment:

Willamette University offers a three-year undergraduate, two-year MBA program. Currently I am in my first year of MBA studies. Unlike the rest of my 3-2 associates I chose to write my senior thesis during the spring of junior year. This allowed me to solely focus on graduate studies while still being able to enjoy my senior year of college with the rest of my fellow graduating classmates.

What song best describes your life?

It was a Good Day- Ice Cube

If you could FaceTime or Skype with three people either dead or alive, who would they be?

Jesus Christ

The prophet Muhammad

Moses

Preferably all at once

Suggest two or three topics for the ELGL annual conference.

Succession plans for the government

Opportunities for technology overhaul within government

Favorite thing to do on a Sunday morning:

Sleep in and/or golf if weather permits

Government is…..best which governs least. This saying reminds us the role government should play; an entity meant to serve, not regulate, the people who gave up their total freedom in exchange for public services.

ELGL is….the sustainably link between experienced public service professionals and prospective youth with multitudes of raw talent.